Chapter 6
As fundraisers went, this one was heavy on the fun, but then as Eve had quickly found out, any event organised by Gwen Jones, who was the volunteer coordinator for the Friends of St Piran’s, was always going to meet that definition.
It was taking place in the Old Town Hall in Port Tremellien, but it had been decked out to look more like a bar in the Wild West. There was axe throwing, a bucking bronco ride, a tin can alley and a lasso game.
The event had been opened with a line dancing display by Gwen and some of her friends, which the crowd were then invited to join in with.
Funds were being raised through the sale of tickets, as well as food and a silent auction.
The money collected would be split between the hospital and Domusamare.
Eve had been persuaded to come along by Eden, Meg and Isla, the three of whom she’d definitely grown closer to since the night of her meltdown.
They still didn’t know the full story about Max yet, although Eve wondered if Eden might have been told by Felix.
Even if she had been, she wouldn’t be able to say anything, because it might put her brother’s job at risk if she did.
Moving to Cornwall had been a wrench in so many ways.
She’d loved her job at Jimmy’s, the nickname given to St James’s Hospital in Leeds, and in lots of ways it had felt like starting again, in terms of her career.
Leaving behind her closest friends had been even harder and she’d kept her guard up since starting at St Piran’s, not wanting to get close to anyone.
She wanted to keep the situation with Max private, for his sake but also because the last thing she wanted was for anyone to feel sorry for her.
Then there was the fact that getting close to anyone raised the potential of getting hurt.
It felt as if she’d lost so many people she cared about over the years, and it had begun to feel safer not to allow herself to get close to anyone else.
Yet her colleagues at the hospital had found a way of getting under her skin.
She liked them all, even the ones she hadn’t expected to find anything in common with.
Like Gary, a nurse in his fifties – happily married to Wendy, the head of housekeeping – who had an endless supply of cracker-style dad jokes, which had kept her smiling through many a late shift, despite the fact that they were more likely to make her groan than laugh out loud.
Aidan, another of the male nurses, had a quick wit and relaxed charm that made him easy to be around.
Zahir, like Danni, was one of the more senior doctors, and he had a reputation for being ferociously competitive, as he was demonstrating now, pacing out the ideal distance from which to throw his axe.
But he was supportive rather than competitive when it came to work, and when he’d been acting Clinical Lead, during Danni’s maternity leave, he’d bent over backwards to accommodate Eve when she’d needed to take extended leave for what she’d told him was a family crisis.
He hadn’t pushed for too many more details and she’d been grateful for that.
Annie had collapsed, after barely eating or sleeping following Lily’s move to the US, and Eve had stepped in.
Nigel was a lovely guy, but he was holding the family together financially with all the money Annie had poured into trying to pursue some kind of justice for Max.
Nigel was at the top of his field in cosmetic dentistry and he worked very long hours and travelled internationally to see some of his clients, which put even more pressure on Eve to be there for Annie.
When Meg had been brought in to cover for her, Eve had been worried about her own job, fearful that she might be permanently replaced.
What she hadn’t admitted to anyone, even herself, was that a tiny part of her would have been relieved, because it would have given her a reason to go back to Leeds and escape the pressure of being there for Max and Annie.
But the team at St Piran’s had welcomed her back, despite Meg being given a permanent contract too.
Even then she hadn’t been able to let down her guard and admit why she’d been forced to take so much time off work.
Now, as she stood next to Eden, waiting for her turn to throw the axe again and see if this time she could actually get it to hit the target, it really did feel like she was out with friends.
They were all laughing as Zahir took a professional-looking swing and promptly sent the axe straight into the wooden floor about three feet shy of the target.
When Vick, her best friend from Leeds, had asked her if there was anyone at St Piran’s she might be ‘interested’ in, Eve had scoffed.
Even if it had been an option, she wouldn’t have been ‘interested’ in any of the men from the team in A something that made him seem even lovelier than he already did.
‘I can introduce you to Henry, who runs the charity if you like, so you can discuss what kinds of things you might like to get involved with? I’m sure he’d love to have you onboard. ’
‘And I bet he’s not the only one!’ Before Eve had even been able to respond, Gwen had given Felix a playful nudge and dropped a perfect wink.
‘You’re incorrigible, Gwen!’ Felix laughed and Eve wished she could just laugh it off as easily, but heat had swept over her again and she’d have been more than happy if a giant crater had opened up beneath her and she’d disappeared forever.
Instead, she cut in before Gwen could take things any further.
‘Thanks. I’d really appreciate the introduction, because I can’t think of anything I’d rather do with my free time than support the charity.
’ Eve’s tone sounded haughty, even to her own ears, as if spending time with Felix was something she’d have to endure in order to achieve her aim of working with the charity.
She didn’t want him to think she was some kind of snob, but it was the lesser of two evils, because the idea of him thinking she was interested in him ‘like that’ was far more mortifying.
The worst part of it all was that she had a sneaking suspicion she was interested in Felix, and that was something she couldn’t even admit to herself let alone anyone else.